Description

The EnvironmentYou project targets among others in the following groups:

• Young farmers
• Local Development Agencies
• Business Associations
• Chambers of Commerce
• Adult Education Policy-Makers
• Higher Education Institutes

Consortium

The strategic partnership was set based on the expertise and the diverse activities of the consortium members, as each partner brings a complementary knowledge related to the project. A brief description of the partnership members is available below.

Hellenic National Youth Council (HNYC)

The HNYC (Hellenic National Youth Council) was founded in July 1998, after strenuous efforts by Greek political and social youth organizations and obtained an elected administration in November of that year; it is an independent, non-government, non-profit federation of youth organizations.

Today up to fifty-nine youth organizations (six political youth parties and numerous non-government youth organizations) are members of HNYC. Thus, most of youths belonging to an organization are part of this federation. Its aim is to strengthen the role and coordinate the actions of its member organizations. The HNYC, according to the number of members in its organizations, represents over three hundred and fifty thousand young Greek men and women.

The HNYC associates with the Greek government concerning domestic matters and is the official representative of young Greeks in Greece and abroad. Abroad it participates in the European Youth Forum, the Mediterranean Youth Forum, the International French-Speaking Youth Council, the General Assembly of the UN and the Youth Council of UNESCO. HNYC is one of the largest and most represented youth federations in Europe.

HNYC overcomes political, ideological and social commitments in order to address challenges faced by youth at a national, European and international level. Aiming at continuously training and informing young people on issues that concern them, the HNYC implements workshops, conferences, cultural and other programs, seminars and activities that directly target young people.

Agricultural University of Plovdiv

The Agricultural University of Plovdiv (AUP) is established in 1945 as a national centre for agricultural science and education in Bulgaria. The AUP is the leading institution in proving comptences in agricultural business, science and education.

The University is equipped with modern research laboratories, experimental and demonstration fields and greenhouses, lecture halls, computer rooms and libraries, sport-halls and play-grounds. The AUP provides education for obtaining BSc, MSc and PhD academic degrees as well as postgraduate Lifelong Learning (LLL) for enhancing qualifications of professionals. Bulgarian and foreign students enroll both as full-time and part-time students in degree courses of agronomy, plant protection, animal husbandry, agroecology, horticulture and viticulture, agricultural economy, agro-tourism, etc.

The Agricultural University is among the first Bulgarian Universities awarded an Erasmus Charter as early as 1999 with the accession of the country to Socrates/Erasmus programme. In 2007, the University received an Extended Erasmus Charter, which allows the students the opportunity to take part in international practical placements. In 2014, the University joined the Erasmus+ programme with a vast network of contacts with almost all European countries. Nowadays we have Bilateral Agreements signed with over 80 higher education institutions and companies. The AUP participates in international educational and research projects and projects financed by national and transnational Operational Programmes of EU.

Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia

The Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia was established in 1997 and is supervised by the Ministry of Interior. From 2011, the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia came under the jurisdiction of the Region of Central Macedonia.

It is a Private – Law Legal Entity and is administered by the Management Board (MB) of nine (9) members, whose President is the Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia. The rest of the members of the Management Board are General Directors from the Region of Central Macedonia, representatives of the political parties of the Regional Council and representatives from local Chambers and the Local Workers Union.

Aim & Competences

The RDF CM is responsible for a series of tasks and mainly include the following:

• The management of credits pertaining to the Program of Public Investments of Greece; the management of funds which stem from public bodies, legal persons, the European Union Programs and other International Organizations Programs regarding the regional, local and spatial developing programs that take place in the Region of Central Macedonia.
• The checking, authorization and payment of expenses made by the Region of Central Macedonia and other bodies in the region which are included in the National Strategic Reference Framework 2014-2020 (NSRF 2014-2020)
• The provision of technical support, know-how and funding for the integrated elaboration of studies, surveys, towards the most efficient implementation of programs for the Region of Central Macedonia.
• The implementation of EU funded Projects.
• The cooperation with the Region of Central Macedonia in preparing and submission of proposal for EU funded Projects.

Youth Forum 21st Association

Youth Forum 21st Association (YF 21) is a non-government organisation, established on 1 November 1999 by a group of young people and supported by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). The organisation is a full-right member of the National Youth Forum in Bulgaria (member of European Youth Forum) and actively involved in the work of the Youth Committees of European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and International Trade Union confederation (ITUC).

Youth Forum 21st Century Association has 20 years’ experience in the realization and reporting of a verity of youth activities, initiatives and projects on local, regional and national, as well as on European and international level. Some of the association’s activities have been realized in partnership and with the support of different local, national and international organizations and foundations. These activities have been directed mainly towards increasing the awareness of young people of their main human, labour, social and European rights, possibilities for their career and labour market realization, as well as raising young people’s awareness of civil and non-formal education issues; volunteer work, etc.

Some of the activities in the field of work of the organization are:

• conferences, round tables, seminars and other discussion forums at national, regional and international level;
• training courses;
• informational and educational campaigns about labour, social and trade union rights;
• youth surveys;
• face-to-face meetings with young workers;
• free of charge labour advices by young lawyers;
• outside youth actions;
• youth competitions and exhibitions (photo, graffiti, etc);
• sport and charity activities; etc.

Euroregion Nestos – Mesta

The Euroregion (surface: 5 651 km2, inhabitants: 230.000) covers the Drama Regional District in the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace in Greece and the River Mesta Region in the Region of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria. Euroregion Nestos – Mesta structure comprises of two units that of the Bulgarian Side and that of the Greek Side respectively. The Eurorergion was founded in 1992is and is registered in the two countries as non-Profit non-Governmental organizations according to the national legislation of each country.

The objective, which the Euroregion Mesta – Nestos has set itself, is to encourage and promote regional partnerships, to support the exchange of experience between institutions, economic entities and cultural association. To reach its aims, it relies on local organizations that demonstrate the traditional spirit of solidarity, which shows itself in times of crisis.

The aim of future activities includes the strengthening of the partnership and the exploration of the possibility to establish a EGTC. The two sides have elaborated and developed a common action strategy. The strategy calls for the implementation of certain actions and activities categorized in six major fields. The six fields of activities that are under constant development in the Euroregion ‘Nestos-Mesta’ are:

• Activity Field A: Communication, Exchange of Information and Networking
• Activity Field B: Economic Cooperation Transport and Infrastructure;
• Activity Field C: Tourism – Entertainment;
• Activity Field D: Culture and Society;
• Activity Field E: Environment and Agriculture;
• Activity Field F: Transfer of Technology

Regional Center for Vocational Education & Training to CCI-Blagoevgrad

The association is founded to achieve the following goals:

• Establishment and functioning of a vocational education and training system.
• Meeting the needs of the labor market of qualified competitive work force.
• Access to lifelong learning opportunities.
• Information and consultation of people about the labor market.
• Representation of the interests of lifelong learning, professional education and qualifications in front of state, regional and local authorities.
• Stimulation of employment and reduction of un-employment in economic weak regions.
• Enhancement of marketing and advertisement activities of its members.
• Participation in national and international projects and programs.

For achieving the main goals of the organisation, the following means available:

• Collaboration with commercial organizations, other NGOs and national and local authorities for implementation of projects.
• Participation in national and international partnerships.

Association for Regional Social & Economic Development (ARSED)

The Association for Regional Social and Economic Development is a privately owned non-governmental organization established in mid-2014. The Association works on a partnership basis with a network of over 20 organizations at local and national level.

Mission:

• To support the sustainable regional social and economic development.

Subject of activity:

• Organisation of meetings, seminars, consultations, trainings, internships, charity events, donor campaigns, cooperation with state institutions and NGOs in Bulgaria and abroad.
• Preparation and participation in national and international programmes and projects with European and other donor‘s funding.
• Organisation and participation in local, national and international fora and discussions.
• Organisation of events, trainings and implementation of educational and information programme

Areas of functional expertise:

• Rendering of technical assistance and capacity building to public institutions.
• Project Cycle Management – development and management of projects funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds.
• Elaboration of (pre-)feasibility studies.
• Institutional development.
• Regional and economic development.
• Realization of social initiatives.
• Delivery of trainings – thematic and functional.
• Carrying out marketing
• Development of sectoral analyzes.
• Entrepreneurship development.
• Transfer of knowledge and technology.

Work packages

The EnvironmentYou Work Packages (WPs) with the relevant Deliverables are described below:

WP 1: Project Management & Coordination                                     

Deliverable 1.1: Preparation Activities

Deliverable 1.2: Design Action Plan – Project Keep off Meeting

Deliverable 1.3: Management & Reporting

Deliverable 1.4: Audits

WP 2: Communication & Dissemination                

Deliverable 2.1: Design of Publicity Plan

Deliverable 2.2: Specific Publicity Actions: Attracting Stakeholders

Deliverable 2.3: Internet & Electronic Media Promotion

Deliverable 2.4: Publicity & Promotion actions in the Mass Media

Deliverable 2.5: Final Conference

WP 3: EMS Development & Pilot Application                   

Deliverable 3.1: Current Status Study

Deliverable 3.2: Development of EMS Manuals and Software

Deliverable 3.3: Establishment of e-EMS Knowledge Center

Deliverable 3.4: Pilot Operation

Deliverable 3.5: Evaluation & Redesign of EMS

WP 4: Design & Implementation of Vocational Trainings            

Deliverable 4.1: Electronic & Printed Training Material

Deliverable 4.2: Training Seminars

WP 5: Design & Implementation of Networking & Clustering Actions                

Deliverable 5.1: International Networking Workshops

Deliverable 5.2: International Exchange Visits